The invention relates to an arrangement for a vehicle- or vessel-borne surveillance apparatus, provided with a two-axis, vehicle- or vessel-borne gimbal system and a platform suspended by the gimbal system. The platform can be stabilised about the mutually orthogonal axes of the gimbal system with respect to an earth-fixed reference position, while the surveillance apparatus is mounted rotatably abount an axis perpendicular to the platform.
Such arrangements are known in various embodiments. In these arrangements the drive mechanisms to stabilise the platform about the two axes of the gimbal system are mounted on the vehicle- or vessel-fixed outer gimbal or yoke, and the inner gimbal, respectively, and the drive mechanism for the surveillance apparatus on or under the stabilised platform.
The disadvantage of such arrangements, at least if they have to be mounted at a high position on the vehicle or vessel, is the enormous topweight they form for the vehicle or vessel. The present invention has for its object to considerably reduce this topweight.